Finding a way to target triple-negative breast cancer has been a decade-long passion for Dr. Sandra Dunn, associate professor with the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Now, thanks to a breakthrough discovery by her research team, progress toward a cure for the disease has been made.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is found globally in 140,000 women each year, often young women in their 20s and 30s, says Dunn. It is much more aggressive than other cancers; relapses frequently occur within four years of initial diagnosis.

TNBC lacks the three receptors, or proteins (estrogen, progesterone and Her2), that typically fuel other forms of breast cancer and to which successful treatments are targeted. “Currently such customized inhibitors have not been developed for TNBC therefore the demand for such therapies is foremost ,” says Dunn.

With funding support from Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Dunn and her team identified a protein (RSK2) in TNBC that is essential to the growth of these cancer cells; furthermore, it makes them resistant to current therapies. The discovery of RSK2 means that drug developers now have a specific target for a new, safer, personalized treatment with fewer side effects to halt the growth of TNBC cells. Something that sets RSK2 apart from other drug targets is that blocking it halts the proliferation of cancer stem cells, which are metaphorically the phoenix of this challenging disease and the cause of cancer recurrence. Their research reports that RSK2 inhibition kills all of the TNBC cells, including the cancer stem cells, which are refractory to traditional therapies.

We now have the potential to find a cure for TNBC.

Dunn’s work on the RSK2 project began four years ago, following an award of over $250,000 from CBCF to support fellowships for research associates Dr. Kristen Reipas and Dr. Anna Stratford. Her research was also funded by a grant she received from CIHR. Results of the study were published in the medical journal Stem Cell in 2012.

Publication of the research has given the medical community a new understanding of a protein that is important for the growth of these cancer cells, says Dunn. It also ignited interest from pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies offering new hope to women with TNBC.

“We have also been extremely fortunate to have partnered with the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). The partnership with CDRD has opened a lot of doors and really expanded our research,” she says. “As researchers we want to engage in partnerships that can take our research that much further.”

Her team has an aggressive timeline, she says. “It’s so deflating for patients to learn that researchers have made a great new discovery only to see it go nowhere. We are hoping to change that trajectory and have a new drug therapy available for clinical trials within the next five years.”

Currently RSK2 inhibitors are in the laboratory testing stage. The next step is to improve their selectivity for RSK2 to avoid unwanted side-effects, says Stratford. “We know the RSK2 pathway is essential for the growth of TNBC and we have a clear idea of the next essential steps toward drug development. The future is looking bright.”

The implications of the RSK2 protein to TNBC patients was a Canadian-led initiative that has global reach. “It began at UBC as a really exciting opportunity,” notes Dunn, “and now we have people from around the world contacting us about our research and its implications.”

Dunn also conducts research on childhood brain tumours. Her work in developing a drug therapy for TNBC is showing promise in this area and in a range of other cancers. “It is inspiring to look at your research and realize how many others you can help.”

These types of projects take a great deal of money, she notes, and it was that early partnership with CBCF, CIHR and CDRD that helped move her research forward. “They were a critical part of our team.

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